Cost optimization of steel structures

While the weight of a steel structure is a major component of the total cost, the minimization of the cost should be the final objective for optimum use of available resources. The total cost of a steel structure includes (a) the material cost of structural members such as beams, columns, and bracings, (b) the fabrication cost including the material costs of connection elements, bolts, and electrodes and the labor cost, (c) the cost of transporting the fabricated pieces to the construction field, and (d) the erection cost including the material costs of connection elements, bolts, and electrodes and the labor cost. In this article, a chronological review of the journal articles on cost optimization of steel structures is presented. Articles on deterministic, reliability-based, and fuzzy logic-based optimization of steel structures are reviewed. Research on cost optimization can encourage the use of the optimization approach in structural steel design practice by providing a more realistic way of modeling structural steel design and resulting in additional savings compared with the weight optimization problem.